The Entrepreneur's Source Blog

Sweet Dreams of Security and Happiness: Let The Entrepreneur’s Source Help Make Both A Reality!

How well did you sleep last night? Did you drift off to sleep confident that your family was safe and secure no matter what financial emergencies the future might bring?

Or did you toss and turn for hours, trying to put together your family’s financial puzzle? What would happen if there were a lay-off? What would happen if your boss fired you? After coming up with no answers, you finally drift off into an uneasy sleep and wake up feeling anything but rested. It’s a no-win situation. That’s because you’re trying to put together a puzzle with missing pieces!

When you work for someone else you are not in control. That’s frightening. What’s even more frightening are the latest numbers on Americans and their financial savings. Experts recommend households reserve at least six months’ worth of emergency expenses in a savings account. A new Bankrate survey finds that just 29 percent of Americans say they have that large of a reserve.

As you go through your Discovery Journey your Alternative Career Coach will be with you every step of the way — challenging you and motivating you — but always at your own pace. The answers to each of these questions are very individualized. Only you know how much wealth you truly want. Sure, we would all probably agree that we want to be fantastically wealthy… as long as we hit the winning lotto numbers. But how much are you willing to work for it? Will you ever be able to achieve that in your current situation?

When you start your own journey of self-discovery, you may find (get ready to take a deep breath!) that you would be happy with less wealth than you imagine. There are those that are happy working less and accumulating less wealth; six months in the bank and a three-day work week and they are sleeping like a baby. But most people find that wealth is a long-term goal. Wealth is accumulated; it doesn’t happen overnight. Once you realize your short-term AND your long-term goals, The Entrepreneur’s Source® can help you make them happen.

We all want to make sure our family is safe and secure and taken care of in the future. We all definitely want a good night’s sleep!

The key is balancing all of that with your personal happiness. You can do that when you have all the pieces of the puzzle and your Career Transition Coach to help you!

To discover what new career opportunities are waiting for you, check out our exclusive FranchiseMatch® tool. It’s free and it only takes a couple of minutes. Before you know it, you’ll be sleeping like a baby.

The Entrepreneur’s Source: Moving from Employment to Empowerment. We are in an entrepreneurial economy — whether working in corporate America or not, individuals need to have an entrepreneurial mindset to survive and thrive.

By choice (or not), over 43% of the American workforce will be self-sufficient in 2020. The inconvenient truth for many professionals is that the job market of today’s economy is making traditional career success harder to attain.

Workers are suffering financially and emotionally in a job market plagued by low salaries, long hours with few benefits, high turnover rates, and virtually no job security. Because of this frustrating environment, many workers are choosing to move from Employment to Empowerment®… turning to alternate means to achieve their Income, Lifestyle, Wealth, and Equity goals.

Today’s Economic State

NBC REPORTS: The nation’s middle-class has been shrinking at what some call an alarming rate, and even as the nation’s technical skilled job market is grows, demand for many mid- to low-skilled, primarily middle-class positions is expected to decline rapidly. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) projects a loss of hundreds of thousands of such jobs in the coming years due to outsourcing and the development of new technology.

According new analysis by CareerBuilder’s Economic Modeling Specialists: More than 60 percent of 173 occupations projected to decline through 2021 are middle-class jobs.

Although these numbers may seem alarming for people entering the job market, these numbers are ideal for individuals wanting to enter into entrepreneurship. Since 1995, small businesses have accounted for 65 percent of new jobs according to Forbes – a very promising number. Specifically, in 2018 franchises are expected to surpass the rest of the economy in job growth, according to the International Franchise Association. This change in the job market can be attributed to the New Career Economy.

Entering the New Career Economy

People are starting to want to take control of their own career and destinies instead of relying on a third party for employment. What once was the typical is becoming the atypical, and The New Career Economy® is evolving. An increasing number of individuals are realizing that they don’t want to sell their souls to corporate America with the threat of being laid off. Pragmatism is becoming more popular.

People are beginning to ask themselves the daunting questions of, “am I really happy with my career choice” and “am I where I thought I would be 10 years ago?” A large amount of individuals are answering “no” to these questions, and because of this, the small business and entrepreneurial fields are experiencing growth.

Moving from Employment to Empowerment®

Workers are suffering both financially and emotionally with layoffs and outsourcing becoming the norm in the today’s job market. Because of this frustration, many workers are beginning to move from Employment to Empowerment®.

This morale detractor is causing people to shift to taking a proactive approach to becoming self-sufficient and taking control of one’s career rather than enter reactive employment and risking unhappiness.

“People are no longer empowered by the predictability of the career path they have been on,” founder of The Entrepreneur’s Source’s Terry Powell noted. Moving from Employment to Empowerment® is based on the idea that self-sufficiency can increase an individual’s morale, creating a happier entrepreneur.

For more information about the New Career Economy® and how and individual can move from Employment to Empowerment®, contact an ESource coach at The Entrepreneur’s Source®.

Life After Layoff: It Can Be Done! The Entrepreneur’s Source helps Bob McEwen find his Career 2.0

How do you imagine your life after age 50?

For many of us, that’s when you hope to reap the benefits of all the hard work, late nights, and weekends that you put in years before. Bob McEwen never got that chance. “Early in January of 2009, I was laid off with many others, primarily because the products I had been managing went away.”

McEwen, a Six Sigma Black Belt, was managing mortgage insurance products when the mortgage market crashed in 2008. He’d spent years in the corporate world after a stint in the Navy and time manufacturing missile systems. But the real bomb dropped when McEwen received that layoff notice. He knew it was coming, but that didn’t make it any less frightening.

“After being laid off, I assumed I would continue in the corporate world, but I was over 50 and the economy was tough,” said McEwen. “I wasn’t getting any nibbles for employment and self-employment had never been on my radar.”

“One day my wife came home from work and told me about a TES [The Entrepreneur’s Source®] Franchise Expo,” McEwen continued. “My first reaction was that I wouldn’t want to do a franchise. I thought about it, though, saw an add in the newspaper, checked it out online and thought it might be worth it to at least check it out.”

It was a decision that changed the course of his life forever. Bob and his wife ended up spending the entire Friday at The Entrepreneur’s Source® Franchise Expo, exploring opportunities. There was so much more to discover that he went back for a second day on Saturday. “Of all of the franchises I spoke to, the sign manufacturing industry seemed to stand out to me.”

“(I) started to do research on Signworld, a business opportunity, as well as a few others Dan recommended,” said Bob. “I did my exploration on others, but always leaned strongly toward the sign manufacturing industry, so that’s where I ultimately ended up.”

Prendergast says his focus is on the client. His role is to help them discover their goals, needs and expectations.

“We’re working with our clients to help them understand how to use a business as a vehicle to achieve their I.L.W.E. (Income, Lifestyle, Wealth, Equity) goals,” Prendergast says. “Through our coaching methodology and the technology-based resources that we use, this helps us, along with the client, establish what their career transition looks like.”

Bob found that he was able to put his years of experience in manufacturing and finance to use with his SignCraft Solutions business, but he didn’t have any experience with signage before starting the business.

Not having experience in the world of a particular franchise is a big concern for many would-be franchisees.

“Signworld helped relieve some of my fears by confirming that with their training and guidance, I would be able to know what to do,” said Bob. “I visited several sign companies across five different states and it gave me a pretty good feel for what I was getting myself into.”

The road to self-employment is hardly ever easy and Bob’s experience was no different. “Early on I worked 70+ hour weeks, six days a week.” But now that McEwen’s business is established, his days have fallen into a comfortable routine, managing projects, meeting customers, and location visits for measurements. Gone are the days of sitting in the same office day after day. Now McEwen is calling his own shots and reaping unexpected benefits. “It’s also been good to see how we have been able to help our employees support their families and see them grow and progress,” said McEwen. He and his wife now employ ten other members of their community.

McEwen never regrets making the choice to take control of his career for himself.

“For those facing layoff, I think you need to be open minded and be honest with yourself.”

Bob McEwen took his journey of discovery and learned that there is plenty of life after layoff left to live. You can begin exploring your options from the comfort of your own home in May when TES hosts its next Start a Business Weekend, a virtual expo that will allow you to explore over 170 franchising opportunities.

If you’re curious about exploring alternative career options and would like to discover Your Career 2.0 with The Entrepreneur’s Source®, contact us today!

The Entrepreneur’s Source: Living Your Dream Lifestyle; You Can Make It Happen

Let’s talk about Phil for a moment.

Phil is the kind of guy we all know. Phil loves his family and he works hard to make sure they have not only the things they need, but also the things that they want. After all, dance classes and robotics camps cost money. So, Phil gets up early every weekday morning for work. He spends about an hour fighting traffic (45 minutes if he’s lucky) and rolls into the office around 8:30. Before he’s even had time to answer the 35 emails waiting for him, he’s got workers coming into his office. Some are asking to schedule vacation, some are complaining about personnel issues, and others come bearing bad news about broken equipment and missed deadlines. Phil starts putting out those fires and doing what he can — because he wants to make life easier for the people who work under him, but before he can get too much more done, emergency meetings are called. These are the guys in “Upper Management” — the guys that tell Phil what to do. There are demands for projections and PowerPoint presentations by Monday. Phil really can’t complain to them. He just has to take the harsh words and stern admonitions to “get it done!” He realizes he’ll have to stay at work late tonight and probably come in for at least half a day on Saturday. That means he’ll miss dinner with his wife and kids tonight and his daughter’s soccer game on Saturday. On the lonely drive home, Phil can’t help but wonder if there’s something better?

Are you about to enter the workforce for the first time, but instead of feeling like a new beginning, it’s feeling like a prison sentence?

It’s time to take a realistic look at your lifestyle needs.

DISCOVER YOUR I.L.W.E. The Entrepreneur’s Source is your path to a new way of living. We help you figure out what you really want — then help you achieve it. We do this by determining your I.L.W.E. (Income, Lifestyle, Wealth, Equity). These are key components that contribute to your overall happiness and satisfaction with life. It’s a journey of self-discovery that will change your life — but will require honesty on your part and an understanding of trade-offs.

What are your lifestyle needs?

Do you want to be wealthy? – It’s possible, but will take a lot of sacrifices. That may mean less time for your family or for yourself.

Do you want to be able to build a business you can leave for your children? – It’s possible, but will probably take some initial hard work and sacrifices.

Do you want to have a job that allows you to provide for your family but still have the opportunity to be an active, present, part of their lives? – It’s possible and could be easier than you think.

What we are saying is that it’s important to know what you honestly want out of life. There are people that still live at home and work every chance they can get during the fall and winter, all so they can spend the spring and summer camping in a tent on the beach to surf. Those are the sacrifices they are willing to make to live that lifestyle.

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Testimonials

Creating a self-employment opportunities is not easy, and it is quite scary, especially for some of us who have enjoyed cushioned jobs, good pay and great benefits. After I lost my job during company layoffs, I had attended business startup and franchise presentations led by a coach from The Entrepreneur Source. He provided a wealth of information and resources, but more important, real data and examples from his own experience as a franchise owner. (more…)

Goran Markinovic

“After twenty+ years working in corporate Human Resource roles across multiple geographies I woke one morning feeling that I was no longer revved up to continue in the same rat race that I had chased for the last twenty something years. I had to find something more rewarding, more challenging, more engaging and more provocative than the day to day grind. I wanted to own my business but I didn’t know where to start. (more…)

Jonathan Jenswold

I first met my coach when I was in transition after a long corporate career and considering the start of my own business. Throughout the process of considering a franchise he was always encouraging, thoughtful, thorough and patient. He does keep the process moving forward, has a good sense of urgency, and even keeps things light with a great sense of humor.

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For over 30 years The Entrepreneur’s Source has provided thousands of people with the answers and the opportunities they needed to improve their lives. Our discovery and education-based method of franchise and business coaching allows our clients to discover....Read More